Case Number 25339: Small Claims Court

BORDER RUN (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Trust no one.

The Case

Some issues are tough to make films about. There's the danger of being too
sensitive, and therefore not having a compelling story to tell. On the flip
side, there's the danger of telling a story that's too compelling, which causes
viewers to lose sight of the issue in the first place. Many issues, though,
evolve and go from dramatically untouchable to box office gold. Illegal
immigration is a topic that has definitely evolved over the last century or so,
though its prominence in pop culture is a recent phenomenon. Though it's a
serious topic that gets debated on the national stage with regularity, it's also
a trope in films and television that has because almost invisible due to its
ubiquity. It seems like every dramatic show I watch has to have an episode with
some kind of illegal immigration component. Heck, even Mythbusters
tackled an immigration-related myth (with the "Canadian" human
catapult story). Border Run tries to straddle the line between treating
immigration as a serious dramatic problem and telling a rip-roaring action
story, but its neither here-nor-there approach will turn a lot of viewers
off.

Sofie (Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct) is a conservative journalist who
makes her living exposing those who are "soft" on illegal immigration.
Then, her brother goes missing down in Mexico, and Sofie must head south of the
border to investigate. What she finds there will change her whole outlook on
everything she holds dear.

Border Run is a lot like a fairy tale. No, I don't mean there are
dragons and princesses. Rather, it's structure much like a classical fairy tale:
a lone person journeys into a land of dangers to learn the truth about something
they thought they understood. In the case of Border Run, we have a
confidently conservative journalist who must go to the dangerous land of Mexico
to learn the that the truth she thought she knew is way more complicated than
her previous views could support.

That structure cuts both ways. On the one hand, it gives Border Run
plenty of opportunities for action-laden flights of fancy. There are numerous
scenes of action (especially in the second half), and Sharon Stone takes another
excellent turn in a thriller. The fairy tale is good for creating instant
reasons to root for characters. In this case, we have Sharon Stone's Sofie
looking for her brother Aaron, which quickly sketches out a relationship and an
objective for Sofie to accomplish.

On the other hand, as a fairy tale, Border Run has a difficult time
being serious. One of the strengths of the fairy tale is the whole "Once
upon a time" thing; we don't need much setup. There's a guy (or gal),
something magical, and a quest to fulfill. That's it. Border Run, though,
has a lot to set up. There's immigration and journalism and kidnapping -- and
that's before plot twists and betrayals. The frequent references to the
real-world issues slow down the narrative, while the narrative gets increasingly
harder to understand without the real-world context it has to drop to keep
things moving. It's a Catch-22 that the film never resolves. This means the
action could be leaner, or the dramatic elements more affecting.

Unlike most fairy tales (at least in their current, whitewashed versions),
Border Run is not a family friendly tale, and it earns its R rating with
loads of violence (including rape) and drug content. Sensitive viewers should
steer clear.

Middling or not, Border Run (Blu-ray) is decent. The 2.35:1/1080p
AVC-encoded transfer is strong on detail and color saturation. Fine textures are
evident in closeups, and wider shots show a pleasing amount of resolution. There
is some noise during darker scenes and the blacks could be a lot more
consistent, but overall, the film looks good here. The Dolby TrueHD soundtrack
is similarly well-done. Dialogue is clean and clear from the center, while the
rest of the soundstage is populated by immersive atmospheric effects and the
film's score. Dynamic range is appropriate, and even the low end gets a workout
during action-oriented scenes.

Sadly the disc contains no extras , not even a trailer.

I don't want to make Border Run sound worse than it is. It's a decent
little thriller that bites off more than it can chew. Thanks to decent
performances (especially from Stone and Zane), the film is worth at least a
rental for fans of the actors. Though Border Run (Blu-ray) could use some
special features, its technical presentation is strong enough to encourage
rentals.